Aliens, Extinction
by Tyrammafar
Summary: It was thought to be over after Ripley was resurrected, but the Xenomorphs aren't that easy to destroy. Now humans are at war, and they are desperate. Now they will use a new tactic: they will fight fire with fire, and pit Xenomorph...against Xenomorph...
1. Dust and Echoes

**Ios is pronounced Eee-aus. This is a prettied up version of the first chapter, for my enjoyment as well as yours. Sorry for the heading clutter.**

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**AL****I****EN**

**EXTINCTION**

**By Tyrammafar**

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**Chapter 1**

**Dust and Echoes**

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_You can't see it, the very air filled with fear and death. The cries of the wounded and dying, the unholy, inhuman screams of our foe that roams this place like the very shadows on the walls. You can't see them…it's all dust and echoes._

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_June 9, 2853_

_10:23 PM (ST- Ship time)_

_Undesignated planet_

[POSSIBLE XENOMORPH HIVE LOCATION

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_Tic…tic…tic…tic…_

The motion tracker tapped out a steady rhythm, the sound echoing in the large chamber. It was dark, the air humid and unnaturally warm, a faint dripping pinging in the room like the sound of a bell, but the sound was muffled slightly by the black resin that covered the walls like a skin.

_Tic…tic…tic…bleep…bleep…_

Corporal Harper looked down at the little screen on his pulse rifle, grimacing and looking around. The little screen showed a blank around him, and a faint movement off to his left, where he turned, rifle raised and safety off. The motion tracker bleeped at a higher pitch as he strode forward, sweat pouring into his eyes.

_Bleep bleep bleep bleep…bleep…tic…tic…tic…tic…_

Whatever it was, it was gone or had stopped moving. Harper tapped the side of his rifle, the button he had pressed sending a signal up his suit and to the lamp on his shoulder, turning it on. The beam cut through the darkness, the pale light actually making it seem darker around him, the shadows reaching for him as he looked into the nooks of the room.

A man was lying on his back in the pool of light, near the resin-coated wall. His skin was a pale and lifeless gray, eyes of the same color staring upwards motionlessly, mouth slightly open and teeth bared. In the man's hand was a pistol, and in the other…a little box, off-white and mostly featureless, except for the telltale yellow W on one side. Weyland-Yutani.

Harper moved to the man's side, looking around quickly and setting down his rifle, putting his finger to the man's neck to feel for a pulse. There was none. Reaching down to grab his radio and report, Harper heard a faint humming sound, then a series of metallic clicks. The dead man's eyes…looked right at him.

Harper was a normal man, and being perfectly normal…he screamed. He stopped after a second, picking up his rifle and aiming it at the now living man, eye wide and finger tightening on the trigger.

"System reboot successful, minimal damage sustained." The man said in a hollow voice. Harper finally understood.

"This is Corporal Harper, I found a survivor…a synthetic, armed and fully functional." Harper said in his radio, trying to help the synth up. The android ignored his hand, standing and looking around slowly. "What is your designation and orders?"

"Cannot comply with command."

"Why not?"

"Please state access code to play confidential information"

"Confidential? Military override, access four-four-nine delta."

"Override confirmed." The android said. "Designation ZUS-98892, combat synthetic 4th generation. All other information is classified."

"Override." Harper said, getting annoyed.

"Access denied, only Weyland-Yutani personnel may access information." The android went silent, head turning from side to side, scanning the room.

"Weyland's up to something…" Harper muttered, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "ZUS, fall in step and defend me until further orders are given, confirm command."

"Command rejected." The android said. "Only Weyland-Yutani personnel may give commands. HG-5 protocol initiated…" The android suddenly raised its pistol, placing the weapon right between Harper's eyes.

"Holy mother fu-"

Light lit up the chamber, highlighting the resin coated walls for a moment, and then a sound followed, echoing through passages and corridors into infinity, but heard by nothing.

Nothing human, at least…

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_Two weeks later…_

_----_

_LG-5877_

_Zerus System_

_Weyland-Yutani laboratory_

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"So, as you can plainly see, the Xenomorphs are indeed not extinct, and in fact are more deadly than ever before." Doctor Isen said, showing the map of the known galaxy, all the Xenomorph infested planets highlighted I red. That being so…half the planets glowed a crimson hue, as if showing the malice that resided there. "They are spreading at an astonishing rate, some human cults even helping them propagate. This is officially a war, gentlemen, one we cannot win…

"Until now." Dr. Isen smiled slightly, thinking about the knowledge he was about to divulge. "The Xenomorphs are an adaptive species, built for evolution in living members in a few hours, not generations later when a threat may have passed. They are the ultimate killers, the ultimate conquerors…but how can they possibly hold up…against themselves." The man looked out to the crowd of seats before him, smiling with outright glee as he motioned for the cage next to him to be uncovered.

It was the size of a human cell, and only one thing was inside…a little creature, about the size of a dinner plate, off-white and moving quickly about the cage, unable to escape. It had eight legs splayed out in a spider fashion, and a long tail that it coiled beneath it to leap towards Dr. Isen, only to be knocked back by a forcefield. The crowd was not amused, this was the most deadly creature in the known universe…the first stage in the Xenomorph lifecycle, and the one all in the galaxy knew as the 'facehugger'.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Don't worry, we are all quite safe. This specimen was captured by a combat synthetic two weeks ago. Most of you know that these little buggers die within hours after leaving the egg, but this one hasn't. It is a new strain never seen before, and now by using a form of chemical-resistant equipment…we have extracted Xenomorph DNA completely intact, and alive.

"What does this mean? This is the original specimen…but we don't need it anymore. We have been working on a way to not have to kill off humans in order to use these as programmable weapons; we only have to do a little work with what is available to us. This brings us to the latest project…code-named Extinction. A new strain of Xenomorph, created solely to destroy others of their kind." Dr. Isen covered the cage again, and several people breathed a sigh of relief. "We wanted to turn them into weapons, but now we will use them only as an eradication technique. We cannot use this species, that has been made clear, but now we can kill them off once and for all…

"And it was made possible by one Ellen Ripley some hundred years ago…she provided the first DNA samples to make this possible. No Queen will be made, they cannot reproduce, they are merely hunters without any thought other than to kill Xenomorphs…and in a month they will be ready to send out. As we speak the first line has been completed, and will begin their testing in a few minutes…"

The crowd applauded, this was good news, a way to eradicate the species forever and never have to seen them again, destroying the hunters after they had done their job. None would be left alive.

Dr. Isen was a little nervous…he hadn't told them everything he should have, but it wouldn't matter. "Dr, Isen, we are ready for you to begin your testing." A synthetic said from the side, and Isen nodded. This was it, the moment of truth…hopefully this one wouldn't fail like the last four had…

"It is time…"

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_Thirty minutes later_

_Weyland-Yutani Lab_

_Sector 5_

[HIGH SECURITY SECTION

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_When we experiment on a cloned specimen, do we stop to think about how it feels? No, we just keep poking and prodding it like a computer…eventually push comes to shove, and the 'computer' always shoves a little harder than we expect…_

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"Subject is responding well…no anomalies…this may be a successful one, sir."

"How is the DNA holding up?" Another voice said.

"Perfectly, and it is almost completely Xeno as well." The first stated.

"Almost?" The second.

"It is 95 percent Xenomorph and 5 percent of the original subject, enough to keep the rest stable. It is working wonderfully!"

"Excellent, when may we begin the testing?"

"Sir…the subject…it's been awake this entire time!" This was a new voice, and female.

"Isn't it sedated?" The second voice.

"It _was_! It has developed immunity to the drug, and it has been conscious since we began to unfreeze it."

"Well…let's see what the specimen thinks about all this…" The second voice said.

Ios shook his head, his vision clearing. All he saw was blue, distorted, and cold. He tried to move, but he was paralyzed by something, and he couldn't so much as twitch his fingers. He had no idea where he was or what was happening, but he knew instinctively that he was a prisoner. He looked about, seeing around him glass and a blue liquid, bubbles swirling around him as if they had life of their own.

"Subject is fully conscious and responding to input." The first voice said. Ios saw outside of the glass a white room, and many figures around him.

There were three people in front of the tube, working in a frenzied way. One was a plump man with a bald head, eyes bright even through the glass and liquid. Another was a younger man, only twenty by Ios's reckoning, and working at a computer. Another was female, with blonde hair to her shoulders, working on a computer as well. All wore the telltale white coats and yellow insignias of Weyland-Yutani scientists.

"How are its vital signs?" The fat man asked.

"They are normal for a Xeno, Dr. Isen, perfectly normal. All lights are green, nothing going wrong on the physical side." The young man said.

"You're a miracle worker, Dr. Hendricks. How about you, Sarah?"

"Why don't you call me Dr. Mirad like all the others?" The woman said.

"You deserve a proper name, young lady."

"How charming." Sarah said sarcastically. "Mental scans show everything green, perfectly done and acting just as a proper drone should.

_Drone? _Ios asked himself.

"Sir, there was a spike in mental…it's gone now, must have been a glitch."

The last thing Ios remembered was being on his way to a sort of boarding school with a few of his peers, something about him needing more than the orphanage could handle. He had been frozen for the trip…and now he was here. But…where was here? Had he been injured and was now in a nanite-tube for healing? What was going on?

"How long until we can begin the tests?" Dr. Isen asked.

"Quite soon if the DNA holds together unlike the last one." Dr. Hendricks said. "All going well so far."

"Almost time for our shift to end too, so it's good all around." Sarah muttered. "Hey, John, what's his pulse?"

"It's at over thirty-thousand beats a minute, like any other Xeno. Damned too fast for us to count manually or for pulse sensors to get a proper reading, but it's what it should be." Dr. Hendricks responded. Ios tried to move again and was able to twitch slightly. "The paralyzing agent is wearing off. Should I inject some more?"

"Go ahead." The computers beeped several times, but nothing seemed to happen to Ios. "It's still moving…"

"It's a reflexive thing; they still do that even when under the drug. It can't see us or hear us from my scans." John sighed, stretching. "Shift's over, Doctor, should we freeze it?"

"Just leave it like it is and use the shielding system." Dr. Isen said. "Good work everyone…you make me proud to have trained you, and I know this may be your crowning achievement."

Metal suddenly slid over the glass, obstructing Ios's view. He tried to see, but the light above dimmed and all went black.

_Where the hell am I? Who are these people? What is going on?!_

Ios waited for some kind of answer, but there was none. Eventually he became tired, and drifted to sleep, not even trying to find a way to get out. If he was in the tube, it was for a reason…a good reason…

**This isn't a very good start, but I'm planning something similar to my other AvP story…but no Yautja, sorry guys. This is going to be pure Aliens, all-around. Review, people, and enjoy the next chapter…**


	2. DNA

**I like the joke in the chapter title here. **

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**Chapter 2**

**Kids, don't play with deoxyribonucleic acid**

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Ios woke with a jolt as the metal hissed away from the glass, sliding upwards into the top of the tube. The metal was on the outside of the tube, and there was not a single part of it in contact with the liquid within. From what he could see, the tube was completely sealed, not even a top like in most nanite tubes, and it felt like there was less pressure inside. He finally looked outside of the tube, seeing the two younger scientists working on their computers.

"So where's Isen?" The man asked, tapping on his keyboard at a lazy pace.

"He's overseeing the reevaluation of another subject, one of the failed ones. He thinks it might be salvageable, but I don't think so." Sarah stood up, looking up at the tube with clipboard in hand. "You know…I could swear it's looking right at me!"

"It's still blind by my sensors, it's not seeing anything but black." John muttered. "The subject is still perfectly stable; all is well in this area. Ready for the first test?"

"I think so; I'm monitoring brain functions now." Sarah sat down, and Ios saw that instead of notes on the clipboard she had been drawing a sketch of something, vaguely human in appearance, but almost skeletal as well. When Ios saw the tail and head he knew what it was…a Xenomorph. That was the one thing all men and women feared, the killer in the night, the shadow in the dark, the hunter of men. And…she had done a pretty good job of sketching it as well, as if she had seen one before. Many people who had…weren't around to draw them.

"Beginning first test, cycling in Xenomorph pheromones now."

_Xenomorph pheromones? What the… _Ios suddenly could smell and taste something in the liquid, an almost animal smell that made him cringe, it was quite terrible, but he soon became used to it.

"Response…none?" John turned to look at the tube. "The subject doesn't respond at all, nothing physically at least."

"Nothing over here." Sarah said. "Introduce the human pheromones…it should show aggression."

"I'm doing it…" John began tapping on his keyboard again, and the first smell vanished, being replaced by…nothing. "Subject does not respond to male human pheromones either…no aggression, no heartrate change, no increased salivation…nothing. Switching to female." A new scent entered the tube, and the only thing Ios could say about it was…_wow_.

"Whoa, that did it!' Sarah said, writing things down on her hand. "No aggression though…"

"You don't want to know about the physical change, and you probably shouldn't look." John said, holding in a chuckle.

"Why?' Sarah turned to look at the tube. "Oh…wow, that's…new…"

"What, haven't seen it before?"

"Hey, I'm only seventeen; I don't have the vast knowledge you do on that specific part."

"Hey, are you suggesting that I'm-"

"Shut up and work." Sarah said, turning to her PC. The scent vanished and nothing replaced it. "Back to normal now…"

"Have you finished that internship report?" John asked, looking over the woman's shoulder. "No, you've been drawing things instead."

"It's the subject, what do you think?" Sarah held up the sketch of the Xenomorph.

"You messed up the claws…they're longer than that." John looked at the tube that Ios was in. "Wait, no, you got it right. You should be doing work though…"

"Fine, I'll do it during breakfast…which is now." Sarah stood up, shoving the other towards the door. "Go on, you're buying."

"What about the subject?" John cried, but Sarah's answer was cut off as the hatch closed behind them.

Ios moved then, lowering himself to look at the sketch. It was a Xenomorph alright…but it was also the subject they were talking about. But, wasn't he the subject? A strange thought hit him, and he glanced at his hand…to see black carapace with long fingers ending in razor-sharp claws. He gasped, or tried to, as he had no air in his lungs; he was filtering oxygen directly from the liquid with no tubes connected to him. He reached around behind him, feeling something in his grasp…and feeling what that thing felt. He pulled forward the bladed tail of the Xenomorph…and it was _his _tail.

_Holy mother fucker…_Ios looked down at the sketch again. _…what in hell have these morons done to me?_

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_Thirty minutes later…_

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The hatch hissed open, the two scientists entering again, the woman with a smile on her face. Her smile vanished when she saw the tube. "John, that Xenomorph is looking right at us…I swear it can see us!"

"It can't…but it _is _moving, which means it has become immune to the paralyzing drug. Let's hope it doesn't try to get out like the last one did." John sat down, Sarah staring at Ios for a moment then sitting down as well. Ios tried to yell out to them, but he couldn't speak…he remembered that Xenomorphs had no tongue, but an inner set of jaws.

"Alright, should we start where we left off?" Sarah asked, shoving the clipboard to the side.

"Of course. Did you finish the report?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did." Sarah began typing something into her computer. "I'm introducing the Queen pheromones now…this should get a reaction." A new scent came to Ios, but he couldn't tell what it was from. It smelled fine to him, like a kind of food he had never smelled before, but nothing else. "No reaction…wow, this is a first. Is it…a failure?"

"No, this is great!" John cried. "It means the Queens can't hold sway over this drone, none at all. It is independent from the Hives!"

"Good…at least something is good so far." Sarah began typing again and the scent vanished. "How's the next one going?"

"I'm getting there…" John tapped the enter key on his computer and something else came in, and it felt as if Ios was sticking his tongue on a nine-volt battery, but all over his body. His vision lost some of its clarity as well. "Not much of a response…heartrate is up, and the EMP is interfering with its electromagnetic senses." The vision cleared and the tingling vanished. "Back to normal."

"Ugh, Isen has me set up to do some independent work with this later…that's not going to be pretty." Sarah said, typing in something else, but there was no change.

"That sounds fun; I hope you don't get scared of this one being alone like you did with the last one."

"Hey, I had a _great _reason to be scared of number four!"

"That you did…freaky little bug, wasn't it?" John shook his head.

"That he was…" Sarah yawned.

For the next several hours it was nothing but typing and talking about other people from the lab, all of whom seemed to have issues in one way or another. Eventually John left, saying good night to Sarah, who also stood and picked up her notes. Before she left, however…she looked up at Ios.

"I know you can see me Xeno…I know it…" She turned and walked away, her face nervous at being alone with him in that room. She was afraid…and for good reason.

_What have these idiots done to me? _Ios asked, but there was no answer.

**Oh, scary. Is anyone going to show me some mercy and review? I might have to make them run painful tests on Ios if you don't review…**

**-Tyrammafar the Worldmaker**


	3. Revelation

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**Chapter 3**

**Revelation**

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The next day began with the opening of the metal that kept Ios inside, revealing to him that only Sarah was in the room, alone and with a look of fear on her face. She was not doing too well, shaking slightly all the time and making glances in his direction. All she did was watch him and take notes, occasionally drawing more detail of him on the clipboard, and it continued this way for an hour.

"Need to fill out that report like John said to…" Sarah stood up, looking around for something. "Where the hell did I put it?" Ios grimaced, tapping on the glass. Sarah spun around, eyes wide in fear, stepping back a little, but Ios only pointed to a few sheets of paper that had fallen behind the computer monitor. Sarah picked them up, looking between the papers and the tube. "You _can _see me…and hear me…John was wrong, as always."

_Come on; let me out of here… _Ios thought, watching the woman closely. Sarah tapped the spacebar on John's computer, bringing it awake from hibernation mode. There were many little charts and spectrums, none of them making any sense to Ios in the slightest. On the other computer was what appeared to be an image of a brain, but larger and much differently shaped. There were spots of color on it, seeming to show his brain activity. _What are they doing? _One area of the brain began to glow red as he thought to himself…it had reacted.

"Everything's still normal on the physical level…" Sarah said.

_You, scientist…Sarah, Sarah, look at the fricken mental station! _Ios screamed. The brain monitor showed his thoughts as flickers of color on the furthest forward part of the image. _Come on, do you even know who I am? Or…who I used to be? _Sarah turned back to the tube.

"I know you can see me, Xeno…what are you planning?" She brought her head close to the glass, trembling slightly. Ios could smell something in the tube now, like blood but more metallic. He could smell her fear. "You bugs are always planning something…you can't get out of that tube now that we have the new security systems…"

_Come on, you idiot, I'm a human! _Ios screamed, but Sarah only turned away from him, sitting down at the mental station. _Come on…think about this…is this how a Xenomorph would act around humans? No! I should have escaped and killed you by now if that was true, no matter what kind of security you have. _

Ios, for all his seventeen years of age, couldn't think of one person he hated more right now that Sarah, but he was forced to stand by and watch her work. He eventually stopped hating her for something she didn't understand…he would have to find this Dr. Isen and ask him personally what he had done to him and why.

Sarah moved to the physical station, taking a syringe from her arm, half filled with blood. _What are you doing? What are you planning… _Ios watched as she placed the sample of blood in a plastic tube the size of a pinky finger, then placing the syringe in the trash and the tube in a strange device next to the computer. A new smell entered the chamber, and Ios knew now it was her blood. She was testing him, trying to get him to show aggression.

The blood smelled like meat and iron, as all blood did, but he could also tell other things from it…he knew her blood sugar level now, how much food she had eaten today, how fast her heart had been pumping when she had removed the blood…but he thought the stuff tasted …good. Still, he cringed, waving the liquid containing the blood sample away from him.

"No aggression at all…a first for any Xenomorph, wild or in a lab." Sarah said, the scent vanishing without a trace. "Wait till John hears about this one, he'll think twice about assuming anything. This means that you probably won't bother with humans if you are released into battle. If only we could test you with Xeno blood…then we would know who your loyalties lie with."

_Sarah, are you paying attention? _Ios moved to the bottom of the tube, lowering his head down so it was at the same level as hers. Sarah turned and gave a gasp, pulling back a bit.

"You know that was my blood…" Sarah muttered.

_I saw you put it in the fricken machine you dumb fuck, can't you remember anything? _Ios hissed to himself. _Are you having a blonde moment?_

"You smell me…you want out don't you?"

_No shit, Sherlock! _

"I'm afraid you're not getting out in a while." Sarah turned from him, trying to ignore him, but Ios could smell her fear as he was looking at her, stronger than before. She was so scared she was close to wetting herself, but she still stayed at her post and completed her work. "Well, my shift's over for now…to hell with this, I'm not staying in here alone with you again." She stood up, gathering her papers. "By the way…thanks for that bit of help with my report…" She turned to leave.

_Sarah, no, get back here and listen to me! _Ios cried, putting his clawed hands to the glass and butting his head against it. _Get back here you idiot! _Sarah only glanced back and sealed the hatch behind her, the room empty once more. But…the metal casing wasn't around the tube…there was a chance he could escape.

Ios kicked back a little, bracing himself against the far wall and kicking the glass with his right foot. The glass did nothing, not even a scratch. Ios now tried the signature inner jaws, opening his mouth and hitting the glass with the inner mouth. Still nothing. He even clumsily tried his tail, and that only made his spine hurt from beating it so much. Finally Ios sat at the bottom of the tube, waiting for the scientists to return.

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Ios looked up as the door hissed open, both Sarah and John walking in. He stood up, making himself float up slightly, pressing his hands against the glass and smiling; maybe he would have better luck with John.

"Ha, look, it missed you." The man said. Ios's smile faded; no, he wouldn't do anything, he was just another lazy human being that didn't care for anything but his paycheck. Sarah on the other hand…

"I told you it could see us…and _hear _us." Sarah said, shoving the man away.

"That it can…" John sat down, rubbing his eyes. "So, how did your shift alone go?"

"I was going to just take notes, like last time, but this time I shoved a sample of human blood in the tube. No effect."

"Wow…that's a breakthrough, if nothing else is. First time one hasn't reacted with aggression towards humans." John brought his computer awake, tapping out something on the keys. The two didn't speak for nearly two hours, by the clock on the wall, and they merely typed into their computers and occasionally glanced at him. Sarah worked on her sketch a little, but stopped when John gave her a glare.

"How about this one?" John said. "I want to see how fast its reflexes are." He began typing something into the computer and a joystick pooped up on the control panel of the tube. John grabbed it, looking up at Ios with a little smile on his face.

_Why do I get the feeling that I'm about to be in pain? _Ios muttered. He suddenly felt something, a tingling in his left foot, and he licked it up just in time to see a bolt of light flicker where it had just been.

"It still has ESP, that's for sure. Or it's reading my mind like the last one was…" John turned the joystick a little, and this time Ios didn't feel a tingle, but the beam of light still lanced out…right for his chest. It was as if he had been shot, and the beam burned like fire. A moment later he was shot again, and this time he dodged it without the warning he had previously been given.

"Stop it, you're hurting him!" Sarah said, hitting John in the back of the head with her clipboard. "Do something productive for once."

"Alright, I'll grab us some coffee." John smiled and stood up, almost running for the door to get out of the room and away from Sarah.

"Damn him…" She muttered, tapping a button that made the joystick retract. "Well, that wasn't good, now you'll probably hunt him down if you ever get out. If he ends up doing permanent damage he might get fed to number four…" Sarah turned back to her own computer, typing on a second keyboard that was attached to the computer. Why it would have two, Ios didn't know, but it was there and it seemed to be working.

Ios now thought about what John had said…right before zapping him. If he ever got out he would make sure to gut the man. _He talked about reading minds…maybe that's why Xenomorphs are so dangerous. If I can find out how to read minds, then maybe I can figure out why I'm here and what they did to me! _Ios hadn't the faintest idea of where to start, and he looked over at Sarah, who had stopped typing and was now adding more to her sketch, glancing back at him not only to make sure she was getting it right, but to make sure he was still inside the tube.

Ios stared at her for a while, thinking about reading her mind, but nothing seemed to happen. He tried figuratively 'reaching out' with his mind, but he couldn't seem to do anything. He decided that maybe he was not able to do this as Xenomorphs could…until he heard it.

…_hate to have those claws coming at me… _Ios looked around to see what was happening, and his gaze fell on Sarah. _Nasty little bugger… _Ios smiled, removing himself from her mind.

_If I can do that to John and Dr. Isen, then I can find a way out of here. _Ios tapped the glass, making Sarah jump with alarm. She looked up at him and he pointed with one claw towards the door, where John was about to enter. Sarah hurriedly put away the sketch, turning to her computer as the door opened, and Ios smiled. Anything for a lady…

"It do anything cool since I left?" John asked, setting a mug in front of Sarah and drinking from his own. Both had a yellow W on the side.

"…no, it just floated there and watched the lights on your computer flicker." _She had lied? What was she up to… _"You forgot creamer…"

"They didn't have any, the computer can't synthesize it anymore since the lower level AI went out of its mind." John tapped his computer screen. "Hey, what's with the PH sensor…its blood acidity is up by eighty percent!"

"It is?" Sarah looked over at the screen. "You're looking at it wrong."

"I am?"

"See, that little dot means his PH."

"I thought that was the norm?" John said doubtfully.

"No, that's what his is, and the normal PH. That red line over there is the PH that it can go to before it starts being destructive to the glass."

"Oh…" John returned to typing in on a spreadsheet, making a graph.

_If he finds out that the subject's PH is _that _high, he'd put it down… _Ios jerked, he hadn't even been trying to read her mind. Maybe she was just thinking loudly? _Then I'd be out of a job for lying…_

_What are you talking about, Sarah? _Ios thought. _Come on…think about it some more, give me some information I can use!_

_If that thing starts to bleed, that glass could melt…_

_Bingo. _

…_good thing that the computer will filter the fluid before it gets too acidic from bleeding, and the nanites will heal its wounds before that would happen. _

_Damn… _Ios struck the glass with his fist, making both scientists jump and look up at him in alarm. Ios grimaced, pushing away from the glass and floating towards the back side of the tube.

"Well that was weird…" John muttered. Sarah had minimized the window with the mental image on it. Ios looked around her, trying to see what she was using now, but his head tapped the glass again. John cursed as his coffee spilled on his coat, steaming. "Fuck, I'm going to get this cleaned off…" He stood up, throwing the mug across the room to smash on the floor, where two little robots cleaned the bits up. When the hatch closed behind him, the mental image window was back up, almost all of it red with activity. Sarah looked at Ios.

"What are you thinking about…what are you planning…"

_An escape you idiot, what do you think? _Ios hissed, showing his teeth in a smile at his wit.

"Don't growl at me, Xeno." Sarah said angrily, bringing out her sketch and working on it once more… "I hope John got burned when the coffee spilled…you did that on purpose didn't you?"

Ios smiled.

"I thought so…"


	4. After Hours

**Wondering when things will start to speed up and the plot begin to unfold? Well, it all begins to look like a real story in chapter five. Here is the final element needed for this to work out…enjoy.**

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**Chapter 4**

**After Hours**

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Ios sighed, looking at the blank metal before him. The light in the tube had been left on that night, and the liquid was becoming warmer than he liked. The tube was about seven feet in diameter, large enough for him to actually swim in. Not that he would really be very good at it, as the skeletal appearance of the Xenomorph made human swimming techniques useless. Ios had nearly fallen asleep, and then he heard a hiss and the hatch outside open. Was it time for tests already?

The metal shield rose and Ios saw the room outside was completely dark, the blue glow of the tube he was in the only light, casting a cool ambience about that actually made the room look better. The hatch closed, the room becoming even darker, and then he saw there was only one person in the room with him. It was Sarah, and instead of her usual attire of white lab coat with ID card on a lanyard, it was a dark-grey tank-top and sweatpants, with the ID card in her hand. Obviously, she wasn't here for work.

Sarah went right to her computer, glancing up at the far wall where the camera usually was humming back and forth to scan the room. It wasn't moving or beeping, or even had the power light on. Ios couldn't help but smile a little; looks like he was witness to some corporate espionage. She set down her ID card on the table, looking up at the glowing tube with trembling hands, which she clenched into fists to steady them.

_What are you doing? _Ios thought as she turned to the computer, typing something in that Ios couldn't make out. He reached out to her mind, trying to read it. _What are you planning?_

…_is up. _He broke in on her train of thought. _Something is up, something about this is not quite right. A non-aggressive Xenomorph is not what we were looking for, and yet this one isn't a failure. Are the higher-ups trying to use this one for something more like the others before? If number four was a failure, why isn't this one? And…why are there different designations for this one… _Ios saw something on the screen.

_Specimen X-5 AKA Ios…they have my name on my designation. _Ios smiled, and Sarah turned to him, looking from his head to the computer screen and back to him.

"You…you're reading this…" It wasn't a question. Ios nodded anyway, trying to get a better look. "You can hear me _and _understand me."

_No duh. _Ios hissed, tilting his head to see the screen better. _Subject number five…so from what I've heard there are four other Xenomorphs around this lab…what happened to them? I know this number four is alive, but what about the other three? What is the point of this? _Sarah gave a smirk, turning the computer towards the tube so he didn't have to tilt his head to see. _She's helping me now? Maybe she suspects something…_

"If you are what they are really looking for…why did they say they want a hunter?" Sarah muttered. "What is the point…never thought that Weyland-Yutani would try something like this…where did they get hosts for you guys anyway? It had to be illegal operations…this could put them out of business!"

_So, she's a corporate spy…but for what other company, I have no idea… _Ios thought. _Well, the enemy of my enemy, as they say…come one, Sarah, dig up some real dirt on this little operation!_

"I think I might have all we need to put Weyland out of business for good; they can't buy their way out of this one." Sarah closed out of the documents, grabbing her ID badge and turning to leave, but Ios tapped on the glass. Sarah turned back to him, raising an eyebrow.

_Come on, get over here… _Ios motioned for her to come closer, and with some hesitation she did, nearing the glass inch by inch. Ios pressed his forehead against the glass, putting his hands o either side, looking right into her eyes. Hopefully she would, like in the movies, see the intelligence in his eyes and figure it all out. Sarah frowned, looking at him strangely, putting one of her hands against the glass.

"You like me, don't you?" She asked. Ios remembered that Xenomorphs had no eyes, so his original plan was busted. Thinking quickly, Ios nodded once. "So you can understand me…you are _much _more intelligent than those other others we had to study."

_Come on, come on…work it out already!_

"That must mean that the corporation wants you for something else…"

_Not what I was hoping for, but it's a start. Shut down the company, baby, shut 'er down! _Sarah smiled and turned away from the tube, striding towards the door. She was about to leave, the hatch open, when she turned.

"Don't worry then, I'll be here in the morning." The hatch closed and the metal around the tube closed as well, blocking his view. This time the light at the top went out, and it seemed he might get some sleep this night…

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_Six hours later…_

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Ios yawned, opening his figurative eyes to see that the metal shield was open, the room lights on as well as the tube lights, and the two familiar scientists working away at their computers. One thing had changed…Sarah, who had once worn her hair down to her shoulders, had cut it to be right below her ears. Ios actually thought she looked better this way, but he couldn't know for sure. Maybe his Xenomorph body liked girls with short hair, who knew, but the point was that she seemed much less professional and 'cold' looking to him now.

"Well, look who decided to wake up." John drawled, glancing up at Ios and then returning to his work on the computer. Sarah looked at him, giving a slight smile.

_Did she just wink at me? _Ios shook his head, but she was back to work. _Ha, she winked at me! _He mentally slapped himself. _No, I'm just kidding myself; it wasn't that sort of wink. It was a 'we have a secret' wink, not a 'hello handsome' wink. I am not near being in her league…I'm an alien now after all. _

"So what's this about Dr. Isen this morning?" Sarah asked.

"Eh, he's been kinda off for a few days now, ever since he declared number four a total failure. They were going to have it put down, but I guess they haven't yet, and it make him nervous. Having that thing outside of its tube and in a cage instead is not something anyone wants to deal with." John said, pausing in his typing. "He thinks that I need to oversee number four for a while, to see what kind of behavior he has developed since we last saw him…"

"I don't envy you." Sarah said sadly "That thing was the meanest Xeno I have ever seen in my life, and I've seen quite a few. Some of them were even out of their cages heading right at me before…"

"I know; I was there running towards them with a tranquilizer pistol at the time, I think."

"That was the stupidest thing that you have ever done."

"It worked, so it isn't stupid." John protested. "So I guess this could be the last you see of me alive…or in one piece."

"I'll send your family my condolences." Sarah said in a monotone, keeping the joke running. "So I'm going to be alone with this thing again?"

"Dr. Isen might swing by a little, since he's sending me to number four." John yawned, Ios noticing just how much he did so, almost twenty times in one visit. He seemed to be tired all the time, but he _was _a pretty hard worker. Ios frowned when he saw the screen of his computer. Well, he was a hard worker, but he was playing minesweeper at the moment. He wasn't doing very well, either…he had just tripped one.

"I think I might have gotten used to these things now." Sarah muttered.

"I hope so, because you'll be working with them for a long time yet if this one doesn't work out…"


	5. Leap of Faith

**This is where things begin to speed up…beware, it will be scary from now on! Also…all my little quotes at the start of some chapters are made up on the spot. I'm a good improv guy ain't I?**

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**Chapter 5**

**Leap of Faith**

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_You never know how something will turn out; you can never know the outcome of an event. No matter how hard you study, no matter how many times you run a simulation, the end result could still be light-years from what you expected. Sometimes men have to be brave, they have to think away from the theories that remain unproven and take a leap of faith…only then will you find the real meaning of discovery and, through this, life in itself._

_---------------------------------------------_

Ios stared at the blank wall of metal before him, sighing without breath, as he had nothing to exhale in the first place, nor the ability to exhale or even inhale in any case. Xenomorphs didn't need to breathe. He had been a Xenomorph for days now, nearly a week and he had found out nearly nothing, and neither had the scientists. It seemed no one was getting anywhere these days, even in illegal things like this operation. Sarah had said that she would be by this night, to see about her own kind of test, one she knew the others wouldn't let her run.

In answer to his thoughts, the metal opened and Sarah came into the room, glancing at the inactive camera in the far end of the room. It always went off just before she came in, so it had to be her doing it. She was once again in the tank-top, but this time she wore shorts…and over the tank-top she wore a flak vest. _What is she doing with armor on? She's a scientist, not a warrior… _Ios watched her come up to the tube, tilting his head to the side in question. Sarah noticed him and followed his gaze to the vest.

"Just in case." She said, responding to him "Glad to see someone wants to hear something from me these days." Sarah began typing on the control panel for the tube, not the computer she used. She stopped and stepped back a bit, looking up at him silently, something in her eyes telling him that she was doing something unusual, and she was terrified for her life. She swallowed, closing her eyes for a moment and steadying herself. "I have to take a leap of faith…"

_Uh oh, what are you planning? _Ios said in nervousness. His caution turned to alarm as she finished her typing and he heard a hiss, and suddenly he began to sink, unable to float anymore. He now stood on the bottom, and now the liquid of the tube began to drain away. _What are you…you're releasing me! This is the test you were talking about…a final aggression test. _The liquid went down past his head, and there was no change in how he breathed, though his head felt clearer. The liquid finally drained completely, and then Sarah tapped another button.

The glass slid upwards like the metal shield did, and now Ios knew he was free. But…Sarah was still there, looking up at him with wide eyes and trembling, unable to control her terror. Ios took his first step as a Xenomorph, stepping down from the raised platform onto the cold metal floor of the lab, looking at Sarah with a slight smile. She of course only saw him baring his teeth, and she drew back. He quickly covered his teeth with his lips, his spine moving slightly to make him shorter, nearing her height.

_If I was a real Xeno, you would be a fucking stain on the floor right now, you know that? Either you really trust me, or you are the dumbest little fucktard in the world. _Ios said, chuckling. Sarah took a breath.

"Well…that solves everything…you aren't aggressive to humans." She stepped a little closer, looking him over. "I haven't been able to see a Xenomorph this close since…since my family was killed." Ios smiled again despite himself. "You're smiling, not snarling, I get it now. So you really can understand me. And you're nearly as smart as a human, that's for sure."

_Nearly? I'm way smarter than you! _Ios looked around the room, seeing it without the blue tint of the liquid making it seem like a whole new place. Sarah reached out a hand to him, and then stopped. _Oh, so now you want to touch me? Pretty soon you'll want be to baby-sit your kids. Not that you have any… _Sarah was about to withdraw her hand when Ios lowered his head and put it under her palm, smiling to himself. She flinched, but rubbed the top of his head with the tips of her fingers.

"I never thought I would ever touch a Xenomorph while it was alive and awake, much less with its permission." She said. Ios growled and reached forward with a claw, slashing the straps that held the vest on her, the armor falling to the floor with a thump. She stared between it and him several times, as if trying to figure out what he was doing.

_Oh come on, do you really think you need that thing any more, since I'm on your side…whatever side that is. _Sarah picked up the vest in one hand, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Maybe I don't need this any more."

_You think? That's what I just said…_

"I guess I have to put you back in the tube before someone gets suspicious as to why all your monitoring systems went dead." She said, but Ios put a finger up. He had no idea why, but he threw his black, skeletal arms around her shoulders, hugging her. She gasped in fear, she thought he was attacking her, but he let her go and stepped back on the pedestal.

_Make sure that when you blow this joint you get me out of here. _Ios muttered mentally.

"I tell you what, when I get out of here I'll make sure you get to come with me. A sympathetic Xeno would be my ticket home in one piece."

_See, you _can_ listen. _Ios watched as the glass slid back down, sealing with a hiss, the liquid running down the sides of the glass to fill the tank once more, and soon it was at the top. Ios began floating as the tube's top hissed again.

"Don't worry, Xeno…I'll be back in the morning, as always." Sarah said, grabbing her ID from the desk and leaving in a hurry, and Ios couldn't help but notice the bounce in her step.

_Wow, that woman is even more screwed up than I am…_

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"Alright, number four…what are we going to do today?" John looked at the cage that held the Xenomorph, grimacing. The Xenomorph did not attack the bars, it did not try to cut itself to melt the metal as it had once done to escape before, it just sat in the cage on the pedestal, looking at him silently. John smiled, going right up to the bars and staring at the alien, a smug expression on his face. The Xenomorph was not doing so well…it was probably ill, and John dearly hoped it would die.

"Come on, drone, do something so I can give a good report." John drawled. He gasped as the Xenomorph was suddenly at the bars, arm reached out and gripping him by the shirt, yanking him forwards and against the metal rods. The Xeno's mouth opened, his inner jaws snapping a millimeter away from John's left eye. John swallowed, the alien eyeing him in something close to disgust, finally reaching up with a foot and kicking him across the room.

In the next instant Number Four was back at the center of the cage, sitting on his haunches and staring into space. "Nasty as ever…" John muttered, breathing heavily. He could have been killed in a second by the alien, but it had humiliated him instead. It knew that if he died so would it…it was learning quickly.

Far too quickly…

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"Mick, I have orders to destroy the original specimen." Dr. Isen said, making notes on his tablet PC. He looked up at the young intern, smiling slightly. "You don't think you would mind taking care of that? I have to work with Sergeant Derekson to set up the perimeter defense system's coding, to make it run faster. It will be off for a few days, and he has his soldiers patrolling around the base."

"I think I can handle it, sir." The intern said.

"The little bugger is scheduled to be terminated this weekend, so we need to get it into a lab for some final tests, but the ones in charge of that aren't here yet. Just make sure the box is sealed and we'll all be fine."

"I got you."

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Mick picked up the little off-white box, frowning and looking at it from all angles. It didn't look like much, more like a lunchbox than anything else, and if he hadn't been told he would have no idea what evil lay within. The box rattled and he nearly dropped it, grimacing and holding it a little away from him. He looked around the empty lab for a good place to put it, where it wouldn't be disturbed.

"Mick Shanos, report to the cyrobay, code 47-BE." The female AI said over the room speakers, and Mick gasped. That meant that one of the frozen specimens was thawing while inside the tube, and he was one of the few who knew how to fix this particular glitch and save the specimen. Mick set the box down on the table, running towards the door.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit…I'll put that thing in a good spot once this all clears up…" He muttered to himself.

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_You know…_Ios muttered to himself. _I haven't eaten in days, but for some reason I'm not hungry. I think I might be floating in some sort of solution that keeps me alive or something, maybe nutrients that are getting absorbed into my skin…err…carapace. _Sarah continued typing away at her computer, the lab empty except for her.

"Alright, Number Five…"

_I have a real name you know._

"…I'm going to be leaving in a day or two, and when I do I'm going to break you out and get you to come with me." Sarah said, glancing up at him. "When I do there's going to be a lot of alarms going off, and a lot of things shooting at us…if I get discovered. If that happens, can I trust you to take care of any threats?"

_By 'take care of' you mean 'kill in a horribly brutal way', then yes I can do that. _Ios said; he was not above killing someone if he had to, it was just who he was. If he had to do something, he would do it. Since she wouldn't hear him he just nodded.

"Then we're all set." Sarah turned back to her computer but then turned back to him, eyes wide in alarm. Ios watched as she tilted her head to look past the tube towards the far wall, where the camera was. It wasn't moving, and all the lights were off. "I don't think I did that…they must have shut off the security systems."

_Great…_ Ios watched the clock on the left wall hit seven in the evening. _Guess what, your shift is over._

"My shift is over." Sarah said, standing and putting her computer to sleep. "See you soon, Number Five…"

_Just get me out of here so I can gut Dr. Isen for doing this to me…_

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_Zerus Lab_

_1:22 AM_

_Sector Nine_

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Mick opened the door to the empty lab, yawning loudly and stepping in, tapping the light switch. The light came on half-way, as they did during night hours. The place was eerily quiet, the dim white light strangely pale in the earliest hours of the day. The walls of blank metal gleamed as did the floor, all of it new and spotless.

All except for the acid-melted patch next to the table, where the box that held the facehugger was melted into a thick mess, the table smoking and the floor blackened. The facehugger was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh…my…God…" Mick stepped back, breathing heavily, looking around in terror at the walls, nooks and crannies, the ceiling, and finally the vents in the corner…one of them was torn open.

The specimen had escaped and was now loose in the labs…and the security systems were still offline…

"FACEHUGGER IN THE VENTS! HUGGER IN THE VENTILATION SYSTEM!"


	6. Security Breach

**Cue dramatic Aliens movie music! Cue dim blood-red emergency lights! Hang on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, IT'S GAME TIME!**

**Recommended listening ----- Nightwish - The End of all Hope, start playing it on the next line of dashes where the new POV takes over from Ios. Set it for continuous play, and then turn off the lights and read this in the dark. Really, the atmosphere makes it all come to life…**

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**Chapter 6**

**Security Breach**

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_Humans think they are the greatest species in all existence. They could be right, they actually might be, but they are still just living beings, and as such they can fear, they can bleed, they can die. And so they will_ _die, and we will be the ones to do the deed. Let them go to meet the one that made them the 'greatest in all creation'. In the end, it is those that do not fear that become victorious._

_Are you afraid of the dark, little humans? You should be…_

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"Warning, alien contagion detected in…sector nine." Ios woke and looked around for where the female voice had come from. He looked up to the ceiling, seeing the speakers attached there; it had been the lab AI. "Security breach in…sector nine…sector six security compromised, alien lifeform detected in ventilation 6-C."

_Great, just what I need to start my day, an onslaught of alien killers. _Ios muttered, looking around for a way to escape, but he knew that the glass wouldn't break. The only way he could get out was if someone released him…or something. _Will the Xenomorphs around here help me? I'm one of them now, right? _The main lights cut out and the red light of the emergency ones came on.

"Alien contagion moving…sector six clear, alien lifeform detected in ventilation 5-A. Sector five security compromised." A rattling sound brought him whirling around, the vent on the ceiling shaking as something ran through it. In a second it was gone. "Sector five is now clear…alien contagion detected in sector four…" There was a long pause. "Specimen number four security failure!" The AI had turned from monotone to slightly nervous, and that was a major leap.

_Number four? _Ios swallowed. _Uh oh…not good, not good…come on, Sarah, where the hell are you?_

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"Security breach in…sector nine…sector six security compromised, alien lifeform detected in ventilation 6-C."

Sarah growled in pain, laying against the wall where she had been slammed into it by another scientist. She swallowed, leaning forward and to her feet, trying to get her bearings again. A sign near her said she was in sector three, and she had to go through sector two and then one to get onto the surface, where the dropship was. That ship was her only hope, besides the shelter that was about a half-mile to the east of the labs, where many others would be heading, but it was fish in a barrel there if anything got it, with only one way out.

"I have to get to the dropship before the Marines do, or I'm screwed." She muttered, looking around the hallway. With such suddenness that it made her jump all the lights went out, and then the bloody-crimson of the emergency lights came on, drenching every surface in its unholy glare.

"Alien contagion moving…sector six clear, alien lifeform detected in ventilation 5-A. Sector five security compromised." The AI said. It hadn't reported the failure of the main generator.

"No…I have to get to Number Five, he can help me get out of here!" Sarah turned on her heel, running towards sector five, where the Xenomorph was held. The hatch before her opened automatically, as all the hallway ones did.

"Sector five is now clear…alien contagion detected in sector four…" Sarah was breathing heavily, slowing down as she realized where she was. She was just outside the lab where Number Four was held, and in sector four, where the alien contagion was located. She took off through the bloody light, trying to reach the door to sector five. She screamed and ducked as the hallway shook, the lights flickering and going off for several seconds.

"Specimen number four security failure!"

"Oh god…" Sarah got up and ran, smoke beginning to fill the hall from the various vents around her, and then she heard an explosion behind her that made her wheel around. The door to lab number four had been blown apart, the wall torn outwards and a dark figure standing on the rubble like the conqueror of a country. The Xenomorph ripped a vent open and climbed inside. Sarah turned and ran the last few meters to the door, which opened and shut behind her.

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"Specimen number four has left sector four…location unknown…electromagnetic interference." The AI said. The walls shook and so did the glass, and then Ios saw the door open before him, a ragged Sarah running into the room and shutting the door behind her.

_Come on, Sarah, get me out of here! _Ios yelled, slamming his fist into the glass and making it shake. Sarah ran to the control panel, typing in the command to release him. The walls shook again.

"Unauthorized opening of specimen tube number five." The AI said. The liquid began to drain away, and as the glass began to slide up Ios crawled under it, not wanting to wait a millisecond.

"Come on, we have to go! Now!" Sarah yelled, stepping back from him. Ios suddenly grabbed her, holding her bridal-style and running to the door, his tail letting him balance as he leaned forward. He now leaned back, raising his foot and drawing it to his chest, kicking out and leaning forward in one motion that tore the door clean out of the slider, slamming it against the wall of the hallway.

"Left!" Sarah cried, clutching him tightly. As Ios turned around to run in that direction the lab behind him filled with noise, metal screeching…and a Xenomorph screeching with it. "It's Number Four, get us out of here!"

_I'm trying to you idiot! _Ios hissed, running flat-out down the blood-red hallway, debris being knocked out of the way. The door to the next hall opened automatically, and Ios slid to a stop, looking back at the hallway. There was something wrong…he could smell it. Sarah's yell brought him back to the moment, and he turned and sprinted down the hallway, leaping over the rubble around a hole in the wall. A bright white thing leapt from the room, right at him, and it hit the wall behind him, missing them by an inch. Sarah screamed.

"Don't let it get near!" She yelled, squirming and falling out of his grasp onto the floor. The white crab-like thing ran towards them, making a rattling noise along the metal floor. The thing coiled its tail, leaping right at Ios, and he roared in unexpected anger, his tail snaking up and impaling the thing on the bladed end. Green-yellow blood sprayed over him, hissing and frothing, but doing nothing else. Ios shook the thing off his tail, trying to pick up Sarah again but instead having to run after her as she ran down the hallway.

_Wait for me, Sarah, where are we going?! _Ios asked, though he knew she wouldn't answer. The walls shook again, the lights flickering. _What the hell is making all these explosions?! Do you have C4 stuffed in lockers around here?!_

Sarah ran into the next door, this one not opening for her. She slammed her hand into the door panel, but nothing happened. "Xeno, I need a hand!" Ios shoved her aside, bringing his leg up like he had before, kicking outwards and blasting the door right out of its sliding frame, this one folding in half as it skittered down the hallway. Xenomorphs were incredibly strong…

_Come on, wherever we're going we better get there fast, I think this place is unstable! _The walls shook again, and a large sheet of metal fell behind them, blocking the way back. _I hope we're going the right way._

Sarah ran past another door, which was an empty room, to the next door. This one opened for her, letting them into a large room with many doors leading from it, the room blank except for a desk in the center, facing a pair of large doors at one end of the room. It was a lobby. Ios took the lead, running towards the door with Sarah just behind. He shoved the door open, running outside onto the surface.

The planet was humid and covered in jungle, the stars above light enough to compensate for lack of the four moons that orbited the planet. Ios turned to see Sarah run out of the lab, shutting the door behind her. As Ios turned around he realized he was surrounded on all sides but behind by soldiers, all of them armed with pulse rifles.

"No, don't shoot, he's on our side!" Sarah yelled as they opened fire…

**Send reviews, or Ios dies. I am making a promise. I am a cynical guy with no life, and I am not above killing off a main…**

**You have been warned, so review.**


	7. Unable to Comply

**So…I guess no one cares about this do they? I decided that I can't end it just yet, so you're off the hook, but next time I better get reviews. Not things that say just 'good chap, can't wait for the next', I mean REAL reviews that say something about what's going on. I want to know how I'm doing. Spelling and grammar do NOT matter to me, and reviewing about it will get you ignored. I want the **_**story **_**reviewed…not my skill. **

**Did the Nightwish song go good with the last chapter? I personally thought it did, though a battle scene would have been better. **

**And so it begins again. **

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**Chapter 7**

**Unable to Comply**

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Sarah screamed as the Marines opened fire on the Xenomorph, the sound of rounds being projected forward cutting off her cries as the alien was lost in a cloud of bullets. With speed such that it could barely be seen, Number Five ducked down, rolling backwards on the ground and ending up behind her, and then the Marines stopped firing, not wanting to hit her.

"Hold it, he's on our side!" Sarah yelled, holding out her arms and placing herself deliberately in the line of fire. Number Five hissed, nodding in agreement.

"Xenomorphs don't have a side, Miss; now if you don't get out of the way I'll have my men open fire with you standing there." A man said, wearing the insignia of a Gunnery Sergeant.

"I'm telling you, this one is on our side, he isn't aggressive towards humans _or _anything else! We ran multiple tests on him to see, and I even let him out of his tube before the attack." Sarah stepped back, putting herself right in front of the Xenomorph. "If you want it dead…you'll have to kill me as well."

The Marines looked at each other, and then to their Sergeant, who chewed his bottom lip, staring off into space. "…are you _absolutely _sure that it won't do anything to hurt us?"

"Positive." Sarah placed one hand on the Xeno's shoulder.

"Alright, you heard her, stand down." He ordered, and the men lowered their weapons. "Corporal, continue setting up the sentry guns and then send a detail to the bunker, I want to know exactly how many escaped alive."

"We should leave here, Sergeant." Sarah said.

"We can't, we have a job to do."

"What job?"

"We were ordered to eradicate the Xenomorphs in this facility if they got loose…" He said. "…they have, and we aren't leaving until they're all dead. We won't let another planet fall to these bastards…no offense to your friend." The Xenomorph smiled and shrugged.

"We can't let Weyland-Yutani get away with making these bastards, you mean." Sarah growled. "I have enough information on their operations here to shut them down for good, with no means to buy their way out of this."

"Still, we aren't leaving until every one of those things is dead." The man said forcefully. "How many are there?"

"…"

"How many of them, besides the one here are in this facility?" Sarah cleared her throat.

"There's the facehugger, which Number Five killed…Number Four, the Praetorian that escaped initially. There's all the frozen facehuggers and eggs that are in the cyrobays…there are thirteen captured drones, a few runners, a carrier, and…"

"And what?"

"…a Queen egg."

"A _what?!_"

"I found out yesterday. Solitary cyro number two contains a single egg, believed to contain a strain of Xenomorph Queen. The Hunter strain like this one here wasn't their only illegal project." The Xenomorph at her side hissed angrily, glancing back at the lab. "So long as the bay isn't opened, it will remain dormant. No one in their right mind would open the bay, since the place is covered in signs, alarm systems, even a sentry gun array that will shoot any human or other being that gets too close to the egg."

"The security systems are down, remember?" He said.

"Not completely. The sector ten through twenty arrays runs on a different line and AI. The one on the surface is female, and the one that goes into the underground sections under sector ten are where the male is."

"I think we need to find a better place to talk, I don't want to be here when those things start looking for food." The sergeant motioned for everyone to gather together, setting a little PDA on a pedestal in front of the doors. "When the detail gets back they'll read this and come back to the dropship. Hunter!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Get a camera set up here so we can watch the doors and be ready if they come looking for us!"

"Right away, sir."

"Are you sure we can trust that thing?" He asked, pointing to Number Five.

"With our lives…he's as intelligent as a human and about the same mentality as one."

"I'm going to take your word for it, but if it does anything wrong it's a smear and a memory."

"You heard that, Five?" The Xenomorph nodded, glancing back at the doors.

The camera was quite simple, a tripod with wide legs that had a very simple color video-camera on the top, connected to a long range direct transmitter, which would go straight to the dropship. It wasn't perfect, but it was an added security that would let them know if anything, human or otherwise, came out of the lab.

"We're all set over here, sir!" A man yelled from beside the camera. "I think we should get out of here before the Xenos start looking for some fresh meat!"

"That's the best idea I've heard all day, let's move out!" The Sergeant ordered. They turned and began heading north, Sarah and Number Five in the center of the group, not only for their own protection, but for the safety of the ones around them.

"Why can't we just get in the dropship, get into the ship in orbit, and nuke the whole damn place?" Sarah asked.

"We have civilians here, we can't do that." The man said. "We don't have a nuke anyway, our ship isn't that well equipped. A few disrupter bombs perhaps, but nothing that would guarantee that the aliens get wasted."

"So we're stuck here until they're all dead?"

"That the just of it, Miss."

"Well, we should head into the lab right now, before the other Xenomorphs get released."

"That's the problem…" The man turned and began walking backwards so he could face her. "…we don't have the firepower to properly handle an infestation of this scale on us right now. We have the equipment, yes, but it hasn't been put together since we landed."

"How long will that take?"

"Tonight at the earliest and we have to set a perimeter around the dropship."

"It's going to be too late once we get off this rock…" Sarah muttered just loud enough that only she and the Xeno could hear, and it nodded in agreement. If anyone knew just how deadly these things were, it was the two of them.

--------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

"Please try again." John breathed o the panel again, his hands shaking in sheer terror. "Please try again." The male voice said.

"Come on, this is an emergency." John muttered, breathing on the panel.

"I'm sorry; this door requires level five security clearance."

"I'll give you my clearance!" John took a knife, jamming it under the panel and prying it off, exposing the wires underneath. With a few deft movements he detached six wires and switched them across their y axis partners, and then the doors hissed open. "I knew taking technology classes all through school was a good idea."

John ran through the door, heading up three flights of stairs towards the surface. He had been in Sector Fourteen at the time, and he needed to travel up to Sector Ten and then through all the rest of the lab to the main doors…if they weren't blocked. John stopped running and paused for a moment, hearing a faint creaking noise above him. He blinked, swallowing and continuing his frenzied ascent. The creaking seemed to increase with each step he took, and he began to slow, and he realized it was the metal stairs that were creaking.

The creaking suddenly became a shriek as metal tore, the bolts that had once held the stairs useless…melted by acid in almost a strategic way. John Hendricks fell with the metal staircase, his cries echoing through the long tunnel of the stairwell. The metal stairs caught on something and angled downwards, dropping him down them and into the bottom of the shaft, into a hole in a wall. He landed on cold hard ground, feeling like he was just run over, but otherwise unharmed.

The stairs had been sabotaged…he couldn't get out unless he reprogrammed the elevators to allow him access without his ID badge, which had been left in the Sector Four lab. A faint hissing came to his attention, and he peeled himself from the cold ground to look at where he was. He was in a brightly lit room, a thin fog creeping around, the air unbelievably cold against his skin. Cold…and sterile. A cyro chamber, meant to hold the largest of specimens that would not be held in tubes.

The hissing was coming from a pipe that ran to the main cyro unit that kept the bay frozen…it had a row of neat cuts in the side, which released the ionized gas into the air and kept it from the cyro unit. The bay was no longer frozen…the specimens were in danger of being slowly thawed and killed by the cold once their systems restarted.

A clicking noise came now, and then a growl. He knew that clicking noise…the sound of little claws on metal, the growling of an unholy hunger that would never be cured…the sounds of the Xenomorphs first and most deadly stage…

There was a facehugger in the room with him, and it had already left its egg.

John stood up slowly, bringing his knife up to defend himself if he needed to. The fog began to clear, showing rows of shelves with little circular tanks on them. Each tank held an egg, a Xenomorph egg, and John could see that most of them had opened, the tops of the tanks melted off by acid spray. There were now at least three-dozen facehuggers on the loose in the labs, and at _least _one was still in the room with him.

_Tic tic tic tictictictictictic_…The clicking continued, and John could swear it was growing closer. He was a brilliant man, though a little cynical and self-righteous. But, he was still brilliant. Not that it took much intelligence to figure out that he had almost no hope of getting back to the surface alive. None at all.

The clicking grew closer from the long chamber ahead of him that continued in the fog out of sight, and he waited for his foe to show itself, and his fingers, numb with cold, gripped the long knife as if his life depended on it; which in this case it did.

A slender beetle of a kind that lived in polar regions of this planet came through the fog, crawling across the floor and clicking its mandibles. John breathed a sigh of relief, but kept his distance…these beetles were aggressive and very poisonous. The beetle was actually quite large, large enough that it was about the size of a facehugger, and it clicked excitedly and charged at John, trying to bite through his boots.

John tried to stab it with his knife, but it was too quick, jumping to the side and snipping at his heel with its pincer-like mandibles. It began cutting into the thick rubber, and it hissed as it tried to inject its venom into him. A sharp splat was heard as it suddenly was split in half, a long, sharp blade stuck between its eyes.

The blade was not from John's knife.

A facehugger with black carapace instead of white was on the ground, its tail arced up and over its body into the beetle, a long blade on the end. It twisted the blade angrily, snapping it back and spraying the far wall with green ooze. The facehugger was a kind that John had never seen before, and by the blade on its tail it was more than capable of defending itself from anything that it did not impregnate.

Tattooed onto its back was the designation N-19.

This was in the genetically-enhanced line of Xenomorphs called the Nesk, what was the project before the infamous X line that was the Hunters, one of which was Number Four. John had always thought that this line had ended with a facehugger designated…N-19. This one by his foot was the last of its line, the one that had been frozen in cyro for archival purposes.

The black creature reared up, showing the implantation organs on its underside. With a hiss…it leaped…


	8. Reflections

**This is around the year 2800...things change in eight-hundred years, and one thing is the education system. You start earlier, you take harder classes with more cramming, and people hire anyone they can for the job. A seventeen year-old with some of the highest marks in her classes is one of the few of her age that would get hired. **

**Sorry about not putting thins in writing, but I have now. Sarah is a doctor and seventeen. It works out in this age, but not in our own. If you must know, she has a doctorate in xenobiology, which is the 'study of alien life' for those who don't know technical terms. **

**Sorry about that mix-up and thanks to AileenBlack at deviantArt for pointing it out to me. **

**---**

**Just one more thing to say……**

'**Hello, Bones…'**

**------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 8**

**Reflections**

**----------------------------------------------**

Two Xenomorph drones walked through the hallway, sniffing the air to track down the rest of the humans that had become trapped in the lab when the tunnel collapse sealed the primary exit, funneling them to inactive elevators and service shafts. They knew there was something around here…but where, and what? It smelled like a human, in a way, but it also smelled uncannily like a Xenomorph.

One of the drones paused, sniffing the air by a closed door. It chirped to its companion, who turned and looked at the door curiously, thinking about what could be inside. Suddenly there was a beeping noise…the sound of a passcode being entered into a control panel. The two drones knew that it had to be a human, and they both readied themselves to spring. The door opened with a hiss, crimson emergency lights flickering, and then the two drones saw it.

It was a Xenomorph, but taller than both of them, nearly eight feet. It had a large crested head, much as a Queen did, but it was obviously male. It had long fingers ending in razor-claws, and another pair of arms lay flat and almost invisible against its sides. The two drones squealed in joy at seeing such a high-ranking Xenomorph around them, for they had needed something to look up to for commands since they had emerged from their hosts a scant few hours ago.

Only one thing distinguished this Praetorian from the one that they both saw in their collective Hive memory; a few human characters on the crest of its head, tattooed on in white…X-4.

The Praetorian _smiled _at them happily, with an almost sinister glee. It grabbed both by the neck, picking them up as it stepped out of the room and into the hallway. The Praetorian known as Number Four threw one of the drones to the floor, raising a foot and bringing it down on the drone's head, crushing it into a bloody mess on the chemical-resistant metal. The other drone cried out in alarm at the loss of its companion, but it went silent as it was torn in half when all four of its limbs were grabbed by the Praetorian's four arms, and it was torn down the middle from head to groin and slung down each side of the hallway.

Number Four chuckled with glee, kicking the bits of gore about as they hissed on the metal, slowly eating through the protective coating. He ran down the hallway to the left, heading deeper into the facility to find more Xenomorphs and humans to kill.

------------------------------------------------

Ios AKA Number Five

-------------------------------------------------

The first thing Ios noticed about the dropship was that it was not painted olive green like he had seen others painted, this one was just blank metal with a shiny finish, as if they wanted it to be seen from a distance. Not that it would matter if it was painted olive, as Xenomorphs could still see it as well as if it had been covered in florescent pigment and held under an ultraviolet light.

There were stacks of crates everywhere, and two synthetics worked by unloading more crates from the dropship, and the other opening them and sorting through what was needed at the time. The Marines spread out and began to set up defenses, and the Sergeant handed Ios a pair of dogtags.

"Put those on, it will keep you from being shot by the sentry guns once they're online." Ios nodded, putting the thin chain over his head with a little difficulty, as it was no longer the shape he was used to. He saw that Sarah already had a similar chain around her neck, the metal gleaming in the morning sun. Ios now took this time to look at the polished surface of the dropship, trying to find out what he really looked like.

He was around seven feet tall at full height, but he usually stood in a crouch as it was more comfortable. He looked just like all the images he had seen of Xenomorphs, except this image wasn't snarling or drooling. In fact, he had no slime on him, at all. His carapace was black as pitch…no…black as death, and seemed to absorb the light around him. The only distinct feature he had that he had not seen in any of the images or newsvids was that his tail ended in a straight spike, like a knife, instead of a curved stinger. This, and there was something on the side of his head, stamped on in white.

X-5. It was his designation.

Ios pointed to it with his tail, tapping Sarah on the shoulder. "That…that's your designation. You are number five in a series of Xenomorphs. Number One died before it was even awake, and Number Two broke apart due to a lack of human DNA to keep the synthetic Xeno DNA intact. Number Three was frozen in a tube, and it is kept in Sector Fourteen…and you remember Number Four, right?" Ios nodded. "He was far too aggressive, both to humans and Xenomorphs alike. Nasty creature…he escaped once, killed a few men, then made it back in to his tube without being captured."

_So then they made me… _Ios frowned, shaking his head.

"What I don't understand is why we never saw you guys in the infant stages, always as an adult and in a tube." Sarah said. "And I never saw the hosts that they grew you in."

_They didn't have a host. _Ios said. _They just turned me into one of these things._

"They say that a Xenomorph takes on the traits of its host, both their DNA and some of their personality. I'm guessing you took it all, including memories." Ios snarled, looking at Sarah in alarm.

_Wait…so I might really be a Xeno? I might just have the memories of a host…the one that I think is me? This is so confusing… _Ios growled. _This would be so much easier if you could understand me. _

"We should help them set up the defenses." The woman said, turning on her heel and heading towards the dropship. Ios…or, as she called him, Number Five…followed her, turning from his reflection in the cold steel.

_No matter what anyone else says…that reflection isn't me._

---------------------------------------

John Hendricks

---------------------------------------

John sucked in a breath of frozen air, his eyes snapping open in the crimson light of the cyrobay, his sweat frozen against his blue-tinged skin. He sat up with horror, reaching up to his face. It was dry; there was no trace of slime there. N-19 had left him without impregnating him? Was it possible?

Perhaps. Or maybe it was because all the N-series didn't produce slime. What could it be? Did it attach to him and implant an embryo and die elsewhere? Did it leave him to look for a more suitable host? Was it even aggressive?

John stood up, breathing heavily and stumbling to the hole in the wall. The stairs were there, and far above he saw the mealted section that he had fallen from. He couldn't go that way. He began to climb up the metal cat-walk stairs, taking slow steps until his body began to warm. He had to get to the surface…if he was impregnated, he had to get to Dr. Isen, who knew how to remove an embryo without harming the host. That mad doctor was his only hope of survival unless he got the medical AI online, and that was in Sector Three…where the most dangerous object of all was kept.

The Tank.

John kept on with his ascent until he saw a doorway at the top of a flight of stairs. Sector Fourteen. He turned, opening the hatch with the emergency latch on one side, which was only on the stairs side of the doors. The hatch opened to the new sector and he began walking down a straight hallway to the first door on his left. He had to see about something. He opened the hatch and entered this lab, looking up at the large tank in the center of the room, just as with Number Five's and Number Four's labs. This was where another project was kept, after it had been moved from Sector Four to make room for Number Four himself, and then moved from Sector Five when the new specimen was ready.

It was a Xenomorph, black with white markings on several areas of its arms and legs. It was abnormally thin, even for a Xenomorph, and it had so little flesh it seemed to be nothing but bone. This wasn't a drone, nor a Praetorian…this was a runner, a very interesting creature. This one was thought to be a drone until a sudden DNA change turned it into a runner, forcing the specimen into a permanent coma.

John walked up to the tank, looking up at the lifeless Xenomorph that had been declared failed. He had only come here to make sure it was still intact. This alien was the one he was working on before Sarah arrived and Number Four was created. There was a stamp on the side of its head, clear as day in the substance that filled the tube and locked it away from time.

X-3.

"Hello, Bones…" John muttered. He tapped the screen on the panel that controlled the tube, typing in his access code and bringing up the classified information on this specimen.

_Extinction specimen number three. _The heading said. _Codenamed 'Bones' due to the small amount of muscle tissue present in its body. Declared a failed experiment after slipping into a coma shortly after DNA restructuring. X-3 was created by implanting a young human male with Xenomorph DNA code. _

"Too bad you don't get to be out here and killing things, Bones." John muttered. "I just wanted to check up on the rest of the family…tell Number Two I said 'hi', okay?" John typed something into the computer panel, turning on his heel and leaving.

"Specimen X-3 will be terminated in approximately two hours, thirty minutes." The computer said. John smiled and closed the hatch, heading towards the stairs.

----------------------------------------

**  
**


	9. Dem Bones

**Here is a tribute to Bones…the most hardcore gamer in the world.**

**Keep in mind, Bones…this is NOT an insert. You aren't **_**that **_**high on my list yet. This is still pretty good though, and is mostly to get you to stop bugging me! Believe me, you'll still like the character, and so will all of my other fans!**

**Also, forgive the obscene use of language here…it's in character. **

**And so with great pride…and some revulsion…I present (**sort of)

**---------------------**

**Chapter 9**

**Dem Bones**

**---------------------**

Number Four ripped the door clear out of the wall, sniffing the air. A human had been here recently…very recently. He fell to all sixes, crawling along the floor to scent out the human. He ran headfirst into something of metal, and raised up to his hind legs to see a blue tank…with a Xenomorph in it. He was about to smash through the glass when he realized what it was. It was a runner…and very familiar. Number Four smiled in glee, raising a foot to slam it down on the computer panels. There was a flicker of light and sparks flew, and the humming around him stopped. The light inside the tube vanished, and a trail of bubbles went up from the floor of the tank.

"Error, life-support offline." The computer said, and Number Four smiled even wider. No need to waste energy when he could let nature handle the killing for him. He turned on his heel, leaving the room and placing the door back where it was, though it just fell back into the hallway when he left for the stairs.

-------------------------

"Error, life-support offline. Beginning release process…" The tube suddenly shot open, the liquid spilling all over the lab instead of draining into the bottom. This liquid met with the destroyed control panel, and electricity arced up it to the Xenomorph that lay on the floor of the tank. There was a brief sizzling before the system shorted out. "Error! Error! Erooooo…"

The Xenomorph moved…

-------------------------

Ios AKA Number Five

-------------------------

"Xeno, put that crate down right there!" The Marine called to Ios, who was holding a metal box twice as heavy as he was above his head with ease. Ios nodded and set the box down gently in the empty space, and a synthetic dropped another box near it, starting a new pile. Ios' head itched and he scratched it, praying to god it wasn't fleas or something…not that fleas could penetrate his carapace or drink his acid blood. Certain areas of his hide had itched since coming out into the forest, and he had done his best to avoid scratching the areas…though it was difficult.

"Number Five?" Ios turned on one heel to face Sarah, who now carried a pistol at her waist. Of course, she had pointed out multiple times that she didn't know how to use it, but the Sergeant had insisted on her taking it. "The detail that was sent to the bunker got back."

_Uh oh. _

"They said that there are about fifty humans that escaped and made it there, all of them without infestation. That means…more than thirty or maybe even forty are still trapped inside the lab somewhere."

_You mean there are now thirty or forty Xenomorphs that used to be them running around in the lab somewhere. _Ios muttered, but nodded.

"The Sergeant…wants a rescue mission."

_Hell no! _Ios hissed, snapping his tail in the air and standing to full height. _Where is he, I'll show him exactly what will happen if he tries a rescue mission! He'll need his own rescue mission to retrieve his head from the north and his body from the south! _Sarah understood none of this, only seeing a Xenomorph hissing angrily and slashing the air with razor-sharp claws.

"Calm down!"

_I _am _calm! I am as calm as I can be when there's idiots all around me! _Ios growled. _That guy better not try this shit, or he's as good as impregnated._

"I know that it's a suicide mission…but there's a reason for us to go back as well." Sarah said. Ios looked at her in anger.

_What kind of doctor are you? _He hissed. _Did you major in 'dumb fuck'? Do you have a doctorate in 'dipshitology'? If _anyone _goes back to that lab, it's all over! Game over! Game…fucking…over!_

"Stop growling and listen to me!" Sarah yelled. "There's valuable information in that lab, things that I need to shut this operation and company down for good. There's more to this project 'Extinction' than meets the eye, Number Five! We have to find out what's really going on around here!"

_If you go in there, I'm staying out here! _Ios said, though he knew she couldn't understand him. _I won't save your blonde ass from impregnation, my own black ass in on the line here! I am not going to go in there…that's final. _Ios turned and dropped to all fours, striding back to the dropship to get another crate.

"So that's it!" Sarah threw her hands up in disgust. "You're going to just walk away and stay here? Great, I'll make sure that when I come back they put you down!"

_Great! I don't want to be this way any longer!_

"Sergeant! When are we leaving?!" Sarah yelled.

"In a few hours!" The man yelled from the top of the dropship, where he watched the whole clearing and supervised the setting up of defenses.

Ios turned around to look at Sarah. _Damnit, Sarah…I don't want you to get hurt over this kind of crap. Think things through for once…_

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Sector Fourteen

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The facehugger lay flat against the wall, watching a few drones pass by. A few moments ago they had passed the other way as chestbursters, and now they were fully-grown. The face hugger waited for them to pass before jumping from the wall and scurrying down the hallway, searching for another trapped human to impregnate. A rattling noise made it pause, and it turned around…as a runner leapt onto it, stabbing it dead center of the spine with a large piece of glass.

_Awesome! I'm like a fucking Jedi! _Bones laughed, looking at the facehugger, which was now a smear on the floor. The glass was chemical resistant, as it came from a specimen tube, and so it was not harmed. _I love this body! What now? _One of the drones that had passed by came back to see what had made so much noise, and tilted its head in question as it saw him. Bones smiled and ran towards it, and it screamed in surprise as the shard of glass sliced its head clean in half. The body fell to the ground, flailing in its death throes.

_Head shot! _Bones screamed, laughing. _Like a video game, but with no parental controls to turn off the blood! This is so fucking awesome! _The other drone peeked around the corner, and it too found a large pointy object growing from its skull. _Oh man, whoever turned me into a fricken Xenomorph needs a medal! WOOT! _Bones clutched the shard of glass in his teeth and ran on all fours down the hallway.

_Booyah, these guys got themselves pwned! Hey, I can pronounce pwned now! Fucking sweet!_

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John Hendricks

---------------------

John stopped walking for a moment, turning his head to listen to something. Far below him he heard a Xenomorph screech in anger…then fear…and then in pain.

"IGNORE ME!"A voice screamed, and then he heard another Xenomorph cry out in pain and the faint sound of carapace and organs being crushed into a thick acidic soup.

"O…kay? That's strange." John shrugged and continued his ascent.

**There, you happy now, Bones? Good because X-3 will be away for a little while. Keep in mind people…I take a long time to get around to the ending of a story. I have this one planned out, so don't worry about it.**


	10. Futile Effort

**I skipped a big part to speed up, but you'll see what happens. This way is better anyway. This chapter jumps around a lot, as things are split up for a while, but I'll try to make things easier from now on. Hopefully I can get this to a close before summer vacation. Then I start on a different story…**

**-------------------------**

**Chapter 10**

**Futile Effort**

**-------------------------------**

"_Ios…I think I need to speak to you." The woman said. Her hair was black and obviously dyed. She thought it made her look younger, but it just made her look stupid. At least, that's what Ios thought. _

"_What about?"_

"_Mr. Richards…" Ios gulped; she only called him by his last name when it was very important…like when he was in trouble. "This facility has become overcrowded, and taking care of everyone is straining our budget." _

"_Does that mean I'm being let go?"_

"_Not exactly." The woman that ran the 'care facility', a nice way of putting orphanage, cleared her throat. "There is a facility a few parsecs from here that is willing to take you in, as well as several others. There are Joseph Links, Ciph Laern, Zach McCasland, and you; Ios Richards. The others have already left a week ago…"_

"_I was wondering where they all went. So that's it? I just pack my bags and leave?" Ios was almost numb with this new information; he had lived in the facility since he was eight and being able to leave was a shock to many of the older kids. He only had a few months until he turned eighteen and could leave anyway, so why was he being transferred? And…why so far away? Why so sudden?_

"_Just pack your bags." The woman confirmed. "You'll be in cyro-sleep the whole way, about a week's time."_

"_So what is this new place like?"_

"_I don't know." The woman said. "They actually _paid _us to get you transferred. They paid double for you, Joseph Links-"_

"_The Juggernaut?"_

"…_yes." The woman didn't like the nicknames they had for each other. "They paid a fairly small amount for Laern, however. They also paid double for McCasland."_

"_Bones…" Ios thought about the thin, pale kid that had left a week ago. "Man, that kid liked his video games. So they really want us three at their facility…Juggernaut, Bones, and me…I would think it was some kind of military thing, but then hearing that Bones got there too…"_

"_I have no idea. The ship that will take you is at the docking bay, platform three. You'd better pack…"_

"_I better…"_

**----------------------------------**

Sarah Mirad

----------------------------------------------

Sarah gripped the handle of the pistol so tightly her knuckles were white, following the dozen or so men towards the dark doors of the Weyland-Yutani lab. Despite her begging, Number Five had refused to go with them to perform this rescue mission…too busy saving his own skin to help others, she supposed. She didn't blame him.

The group spread out, pulse rifles at the ready, and they sent two men towards the door. They put their backs to the wall, gripping the handles of the swinging doors and readying their rifles. They tapped the open buttons at the same time, pulling outwards to expose the lobby to the Marines' eyes.

A human body fell back-first onto the concrete, eyes wide in a grimace of pain, and a gaping hole oozing blood in the center of his chest. Sarah gasped, dropping the pistol in her hand as she saw the body. There was a nametag on his left shirt pocket, splattered with blood, and the security keycard that was usually under it was missing, cut from its strap by what seemed to be a knife.

John Hendricks, the badge said, the photo smeared with dark blood.

The Marines dragged him away from the door, pulling him off to the side. "Damn…looks like there are more Xenomorphs to fight." Their CO muttered, as the Sergeant was back at the dropship with the rest of the platoon. "Come on, move in, and eyes up; we don't want to have to perform Xenomorph removal surgery on the field of battle!" Sarah picked up her weapon with shaking fingers, following the Marines as they ran into the building.

The crimson glow of the emergency lighting was all that was there, and they flickered and some were off entirely. The group spread out across the chamber, shoulder lamps coming to life. Sarah stayed in a group of three that went down the right right-hand hall to follow a four-man group. The others in the lobby split into two other groups to go down two other hallways that led to the administrative areas and the living quarters. Sarah tried not to, but her breathing was rapid and hoarse, seeing blood smeared on a wall.

They were in sector three, as sector one and two were the hallways in the lobby, and there was still no sign of the Xenomorphs or any other life. One of the Marines carried a radio, and it crackled.

"This is Alpha Team…we have searched the Administrative area…nothing here, not even blood. All clear." The radio went silent for a moment.

"This is Bravo Team…not much here either, but a few dead guys with holes in their chests." There was a pause. "I count at least twenty…they never made it out of here."

"This is Charlie Team." The Marine with the radio said. "Nothing but debris down here…not a sign of Xenomorphs, it's all dust and echoes…wait…" He raised his rifle one-handed, motioning for the others to stop. "I see something…it looks like a…crab or something."

"A crab?" Another man muttered.

"A big white crab with a long-"

"Stand back!" The other man yanked the one with the radio to the side, raising his rifle. "Die you facehuggin' son of a bitch!"

"Damn, it's on the ground, it's dead!" The one with the radio said, grabbing the weapon from the Marine. Indeed, there was a facehugger on the floor, cut in half by something.

"That's the one that first got loose…Number Five killed it." Sarah said. "But…good thing you thought fast about shooting it." The man with the radio grimaced.

"All clear, false alarm." A vent rattled right beside the man's head. "What the hell? Stand back people!" They moved away from the vent as something moved down it, the rattling retreating into the distance and vanishing altogether. "We found one…it's in the vents, it might be a facehugger. It's heading in your direction Alpha Team."

"Roger that, we have guns trained on the vents…we'll be ready when it comes out." Suddenly the sound of pulse rifles firing came through the radio. "Cancel that, we _were _ready when it came out. Nice work, it's a 'hugger alright. We're moving to merge with you. Bravo Team, stay back and defend the Lobby so we can make an escape…we might be coming out hot."

Within a few minutes four other marines came down the hallway, increasing their number to twelve instead of eight. "Alright Alpha, we have to move. If there are any survivors, where would they be?" A taller man said, turning to Sarah. She recognized his voice from the radio, and he was the CO.

"There are two shelters in the lab, one in Sector Nine and one in Sector Twenty." The man nodded and motioned for the group to move on. "I hope we don't run into Number Four…he's a Praetorian, and they're bulletproof."

"What's this?" One of the marines asked, pointing to a door. There was a sign next to it that read _'Lab Three'_.

"That's the first lab, though it's labeled number three. I haven't been in there before." Sarah said. Their commander held up his hand.

"Wait a second…Number Five, lab five; Number Four, lab four…" He tapped the sign with his finger. "This is lab three…"

"Number Three?" The marine by the door asked.

"I haven't seen that one before." Sarah said. "It's possible, but we can't know for sure. We have to check…"

"You heard her, open the door!" The marine by the door tapped the panel to the right, and it buzzed.

"State access code." A hollow female voice said.

"Access code?" The marine muttered.

"Access code confirmed."

"Wait…the password was 'access code'?" The marine shrugged as the door opened. The group filed into the red-lit chamber, Sarah in the middle.

In the center of the room was a huge tank filled with clear green fluid. The tank was about ten times the size of the other lab tanks, and unlike the others it held nothing. Bubbles trailed their way up to the top of the tank, and lights flickered on various computers. They were still working.

"Any ideas, Miss?" The CO asked Sarah.

"No idea." She sat down at one of the computer terminals. "But I'm sure as hell going to find out…"

"We have no time." The man said, motioning for the others to leave.

"Alright, hold on…" Sarah grabbed a disk and stuck it into the terminal, typing frantically. "…there, when we leave I'll grab this disk and review it when we get back. Then we'll know what this room is for."

----------------------

Ios AKA Number Five

----------------------

_Damnit, damnit, damnit…should I stay here and live, or go find Sarah and bring her back here?_

"Xeno, stop pacing!" The Sergeant yelled from the door of the dropship. "If you keep it up you'll wear a rut in the ground!"

_Fuck you! _Ios yelled back, though the man didn't respond. _Alright…what do I do now? I know she can't survive by herself…and I know she probably can't survive with me either. What do I do? She's the only one out here that I trust…and who is actually on my side. _

_Hell, I know I'm going to regret this… _Ios dropped to all fours, running after the scent of the human female.

---------------------------

Number Three

---------------------------

Bones smiled to himself as he hopped down the hallway, glass clenched in his teeth. _I think that I might have killed them all…let's see, I have four facehuggers and six drones…so how many are left? And where the fuck am I? _Bones stood up on two legs, which was quite difficult, and he strode down the hallway with long steps, looking left to right with the glass in his left claws. _Where could those things be? I…want…more…blood! _

Bone saw a door next to him, one that he noticed had a few claw marks on it. He eyed it for a moment, looking at the control panel to the left of the door. _Cryogenic systems offline? I wonder what that means. Only one way to find out… _Bones tapped the door panel, the hatch sliding upwards and a thick fog rolling out of the room and onto him, blinding him for a moment. He heard a tapping noise, and then a rustle…

The AI suddenly began shrieking. "Royal xenomorph cyro-chamber breached! Alert! Royal xenomorph cyro-chamber breached!"

A large white thing leapt out at him, wrapping its long legs around his domed head and wrapping a tail around his neck. Bones struggled against it, prying its legs apart as it tried to stick something slimy down his throat, and he yanked it off with a cry of anger, slamming it to the floor. Bone looked down at the creature, tilting his head to the side as it gave a whine.

It was a facehugger…but bigger. It had a large body and shorter tail, and dozens of long spines on its back. Bones raised his blade to stab it, and it suddenly hissed and scurried off, vanishing down the hallway. Bones raised a mental eyebrow.

_What…the…fuh? That thing tried to facehug me! ME! A Xenomorph! Little face-fucking bastards… _Bones gripped the glass in his mouth, dropping to all fours and running after the facehugger. _Come here you little horse-shit! _

---------------------

Sarah Mirad

---------------------

"Where are we now, Dr. Mirad?" The Commander asked.

"Sector 5, where the Xeno back at the dropship is from." Sarah answered, licking her lips. The hall was dark, the emergency lights out in this hall. The way was lit by lights on the rifles of the Marines. "If we continue, we may run into-"

"Private Marsing!" The Commander called to another Marine, one who was leaning on the jamb of the number five lab, which had been torn off. "Get away from that door!" The Marine seemed not to hear, instead listening to something playing from a pair of earbuds. "Private Marsing!" The Commander yanked the man's earbuds out to drop them on the floor inside the lab.

"Hey, I was listening to something!" The Marine said, but he went silent when the Commander glared at him. The Commander turned away after getting his point across, and the Marine bent down to pick up the earbuds. "Fricken A?" Sarah looked back at him as Marsing wiped the buds off on his shirt, a shiny substance covering it. "What kind of shit is this?"

No one saw it coming. Sara blinked in surprise as a dark shape jumped from the lab and wrapped shiny black arms around the soldier, ripping his weapon out of his hands…and holding it up to his head. It was a Xenomorph, and it held the Marine in front of itself like a shield. Its carapace was lined with crimson, so that it looked like its hands, feet, and mouth were coated in blood.

It knew how to use the pulse rifle, too; its long finger went right to the trigger as the Marines raised their weapons. "Hold your fire!" Their commander yelled.

"Shit, man, get it off me! Get it off of me!" Marsing screamed, and the Xenomorph shook him into silence. It began backing up, forcing the Marines to enter lab five through the hole that the door had left behind, and they fanned out in front of it. Unless it made for a vent, it was trapped. At least, it was until it made for the other side of the room, and then pulled out a small card. It held it to a panel on the wall, and there was a sharp click.

"Maintenance tunnel security offline, authorization: John Hendricks." The computer said.

"Don't you dare go in there." The commander said quietly. The Xenomorph tilted its head to the side…and chuckled.

_Oh, are you going to stop me? _The Marines froze. _My host was very kind to let me borrow his security card. Now, humans, if you will excuse me, I must leave. Oh…and here's your comrade. _With a quick motion the alien raised its tail, slit the man's throat, and vanished into a hole that appeared suddenly in the wall, closing just as quickly. It had taken the pulse rifle with it. Marsing dropped to the ground, twitched, and was still.

"What…the _fuck_…just happened?"


End file.
